The Bush administration, on the advice of the fossil fuel industry, surprised the international scientific community by refusing to renominate incumbent Robert Watson to chair the Geneva‐based Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), effectively killing his chances of retaining his position. Instead, at a 19 April meeting, the US delegate to the IPCC voted for Rajendra Pachauri, an Indian energy economist. Watson, who had chaired the IPCC for five years, lost his position by a vote of 76 to 49.